Annual Review of Environment and Resources - Volume 21, 1996
Volume 21, 1996
- Preface
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- Review Articles
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ECOLOGY: A Personal History
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 1–29More Less▪ AbstractFH Bormann, based on personal experience, recalls 55 years of association with the field of ecology, including the forces that led him into the field, research, development of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study, and clashes between ecology, policy, and politics. He concludes with thoughts on humankind's search for the quality of life and sustainability.
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THE EVOLUTION OF AN ENERGY CONTRARIAN
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 31–67More Less▪ AbstractAn analysis of the forces that have shaped energy and energy-related environmental policies is presented through the eyes of an active participant in their evolution over the past 53 years. The problem of self-interest in taking energy and environmental policy positions is addressed candidly. The “energy crisis” is cited as an example. Its credibility depended on excessive demand projections, coupled with erroneous assessments of US and global hydrocarbon resources and of prospects for making these resources economically recoverable through technology advances. Many energy crisis proponents benefited from the misguided government response and from the large investments in uneconomic synthetic fuel technologies. Today, proponents of catastrophic anthropogenic climate change, again claiming scientific consensus, threaten to create even greater energy market distortions at large social and economic costs. The author traces his conversion to energy contrarian to the general failure of consensus and to his own misjudgments in these critical policy areas.
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ON THE CONCEPT OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 69–98More Less▪ AbstractThe term industrial ecology was conceived to suggest that industrial activity can be thought of and approached in much the same way as a biological ecosystem and that in its ideal form it would strive toward integration of activities and cyclization of resources, as do natural ecosystems. Beyond this attractive but fuzzy notion, little has been done to explore the usefulness of the analogy. This paper examines the structural framework of biological ecology and the tools used for its study, and it demonstrates that many aspects of biological organisms and ecosystems (for example, food webs, engineering activities, community development) do have parallels in industrial organisms and ecosystems. Some of the tools of biological ecology appear to be applicable to industrial ecology, and vice versa. In a world in which no biological ecosystem is free of human influence and no industrial ecosystem is free of biological influence, it is appropriate to abandon the artificial division between the two frameworks and develop a new synthesis—Earth system ecology—as the logical construct for all of Earth's ecosystems.
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ENERGY AND RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS ON INTENSIVE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 99–123More Less▪ AbstractThis review explores the potential energy, soil, and water constraints on highly productive agricultural systems. It focuses on the process of agricultural intensification during the past 50 years, and it shows that multiple constraints—as opposed to a single constraint, such as energy—are needed to assess the future sustainability of intensive agricultural production. Recent studies documenting changes in total factor productivity based on long-term experimental trials and field surveys are discussed in detail. The results of these studies are worrisome; they indicate that degradation in soil quality and in the overall natural resource base may threaten the long-run viability of several of the world's most intensive agricultural systems. Other studies are reviewed that support a more optimistic view of resource availability and the ability of improved technology and management to overcome these physical constraints. However, the combined evidence suggests that the increase in agricultural prices required to induce the necessary changes in technology could be devastating to low-income households. Most of the world's poor consume more agricultural output than they produce, and they spend up to 80% of their incomes on food.
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GLOBAL CHANGE AND HUMAN SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISEASE
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 125–144More Less▪ AbstractAlthough the loss of good health is inherently unpredictable, human behavior at the individual and societal levels profoundly influences the incidence and evolution of disease. In this review, we define the human epidemiological environment and describe key biophysical, economic, sociocultural, and political factors that shape it. The potential impact upon the epidemiological environment of biophysical aspects of global change—changes in the size, mobility, and geographic distribution of the human population; land conversion; agricultural intensification; and climate change—is then examined. Human vulnerability to disease is strongly and deleteriously influenced by many of these ongoing, intensifying alterations. We then examine threats to human defenses against disease, including immune suppression, loss of biodiversity and indigenous knowledge, and the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Effective responses will require greatly enhanced attention by and collaboration among experts in diverse academic disciplines, in the private sector, and in government worldwide.
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CARBON DIOXIDE RECOVERY AND DISPOSAL FROM LARGE ENERGY SYSTEMS
H. J. Herzog, and E. M. DrakeVol. 21 (1996), pp. 145–166More Less▪ AbstractIncreases in greenhouse gas emissions and concerns about potential global climate change are stimulating worldwide interest in the feasibility of capture, disposal, and utilization of CO2 from large energy systems. Technology to capture CO2 from power plant flue gas, while energy intensive and expensive, is commercially available. Capture from advanced combustion systems offers a further opportunity to significantly reduce cost and energy requirements of CO2 capture compared to that from today's pulverized coal power plants. No viable disposal options exist today for large quantities of captured CO2. Ocean disposal of CO2 and geological storage, especially in depleted oil and gas wells, are leading candidates. Although some niche utilization may occur, utilization seems unlikely to become a major sequestration option. Since CO2 capture and sequestration is a relatively expensive mitigation option, it can be regarded as an insurance policy. However, since CO2 mitigation options are few in number, continued research to reduce the costs of CO2 capture and to develop feasible sequestration options is important.
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RESTORATION ECOLOGY: The State of an Emerging Field
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 167–189More Less▪ AbstractThe field of restoration ecology represents an emerging synthesis of ecological theory and concern about human impact on the natural world. Restoration ecology can be viewed as the study of how to repair anthropogenic damage to the integrity of ecological systems. However, attempts to repair ecological damage should not diminish protection of existing healthy ecosystems. Restoration ecology allows for the testing of ecological theories; however, restoration ecology is not limited to, nor is it a subdiscipline of, the field of ecology. Restoration ecology requires approaches that integrate ecology and environmental sciences, economics, sociology, and politics. This review illustrates these points by providing a conceptual map of the origin, present practices, and future directions of the field.
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ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE-CYCLE COMPARISONS OF RECYCLING, LANDFILLING, AND INCINERATION: A Review of Recent Studies
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 191–237More Less▪ AbstractThis paper reviews and analyzes the major recent North American studies that have compared on an environmental basis the major options used to manage the materials that comprise municipal solid waste (MSW). The reviewed studies provide quantitative comparative information on one or more of the following environmental parameters: solid waste output, energy use, and releases of pollutants to the air and water. The review finds that all of the studies support the following conclusions: Systems based on recycled production plus recycling offer substantial system-wide or “life-cycle” environmental advantages over systems based on virgin production plus either incineration or landfilling, across all four parameters examined. Only when the material recovery or waste management activities are analyzed in isolation—which does not account for the system-wide consequences of choosing one system option over another—do the virgin material–based systems appear to offer advantages over recycled production plus recycling.
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URBAN CONGESTION: A European Perspective on Theory and Practice
A. D. May, and C. A. NashVol. 21 (1996), pp. 239–260More Less▪ AbstractGrowing urban transport congestion is a major cause of environmental problems, as well as delays. One may argue that this is a classic problem of externalities and can be readily corrected by means of the price mechanism. However, although interest is increasing in pricing as an element in any solution, the answer is not so easy. Despite the falling cost of microelectronics, urban road pricing remains complex, expensive to administer, and politically controversial. Nevertheless, modeling exercises and limited practical experience suggest that most, if not all, of these problems can now be overcome and that road pricing may now be successfully implemented. But the continued opposition to road pricing makes consideration of the alternatives necessary. Indeed, both for political and economic reasons, road pricing appears much more likely to be successfully implemented as part of a package of measures than in isolation.
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ANTHROPOGENIC MOBILIZATION OF SULPHUR AND NITROGEN: Immediate and Delayed Consequences
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 261–292More Less▪ AbstractGlobal mobilization and dispersal of sulphur (S) and nitrogen (N) have been significantly increased by human activities. They are projected to increase even more in the future owing to growth in population and per-capita consumption of food and energy in the developing world, primarily Asia. Increased mobilization and distribution result in changes in precipitation acidity, ecosystem alkalinity and nutrient status, tropospheric and stratospheric ozone concentrations, and energy balance of the troposphere. Although increases in S and N mobilization cause increased environmental impacts, a leveling or decrease in mobilization does not result in a lessening of environmental impacts because of the accumulation of reactive S and N in environmental reservoirs. As S and N accumulate, ecosystems become saturated and S and N dispersal increases. Environmental impacts will only begin to lessen if mobilization rates decrease and as accumulated reactive S and N are converted to nonreactive forms or stored in long-term reservoirs.
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TROPICAL DEFORESTATION AND THE GLOBAL CARBON BUDGET
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 293–310More Less▪ AbstractThe CO2 concentration of the atmosphere has increased by almost 30% since 1800. This increase is due largely to two factors: the combustion of fossil fuel and deforestation to create croplands and pastures. Deforestation results in a net flux of carbon to the atmosphere because forests contain 20–50 times more carbon per unit area than agricultural lands. In recent decades, the tropics have been the primary region of deforestation. The annual rate of CO2 released due to tropical deforestation during the early 1990s has been estimated at between 1.2 and 2.3 gigatons C. The range represents uncertainties about both the rates of deforestation and the amounts of carbon stored in different types of tropical forests at the time of cutting. An evaluation of the role of tropical regions in the global carbon budget must include both the carbon flux to the atmosphere due to deforestation and carbon accumulation, if any, in intact forests. In the early 1990s, the release of CO2 from tropical deforestation appears to have been mostly offset by CO2 uptake occurring elsewhere in the tropics, according to an analysis of recent trends in the atmospheric concentrations of O2 and N2. Interannual variations in climate and/or CO2 fertilization may have been responsible for the CO2 uptake in intact forests. These mechanisms are consistent with site-specific measurements of net carbon fluxes between tropical forests and the atmosphere, and with regional and global simulations using process-based biogeochemistry models.
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NOx EMISSIONS FROM SOIL: Implications for Air Quality Modeling in Agricultural Regions
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 311–346More Less▪ AbstractAttaining the ambient standard for tropospheric ozone has been difficult in many metropolitan areas, despite efforts to reduce anthropogenic sources of the ozone precursors, including the nitrogen oxides (NOx). Until recently, NOx emissions from biogenic sources in soils were not considered in simulations of air quality and emissions reductions scenarios, yet they may be significant, especially in agricultural regions where nitrogen fertilizers are applied. Soil NOx is produced primarily by microbial processes; production and emissions from soils are controlled by a suite of environmental variables, including inorganic nitrogen availability, water-filled pore space, and soil temperature. Agricultural management practices such as fertilization and irrigation affect these environmental variables and thus have the potential to dramatically alter soil NOx emissions. Although current models incorporate some of these variables, accurate regional estimation of soil NOx emissions requires modeling approaches that explicitly incorporate the spatial and temporal patterns of management practices, especially fertilization, as well as other environmental controlling variables such as water-filled pore space and soil temperature.
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ENERGY STORAGE FOR A COMPETITIVE POWER MARKET
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 347–370More Less▪ AbstractThis article discusses briefly the status of energy storage technologies and explores opportunities for their application in the rapidly changing US energy marketplace. Traditionally, electric utility energy storage has been used to store low-priced purchased or generated electric energy for later sale or use when energy cost would otherwise be much higher. But deregulation and restructuring in the electric industry, coupled with an expanding portfolio of storage alternatives, may lead to many new opportunities for energy storage, especially within the energy distribution infrastructure, and for maintaining or providing power quality at large customer sites. Small, modular, robust energy storage technologies could be used to solve a range of energy supply and infrastructure-related needs. This article provides quantitative evidence of utility-related energy storage status, benefits, and opportunities.
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PROGRESS COMMERCIALIZING SOLAR-ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEMS
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 371–402More Less▪ AbstractThe commercial status of the principal solar electric technologies—photovoltaic and solar thermal—is reviewed. Current and near-term market niches are identified, and projected longer-term markets are explored along with the key strategies for achieving them, including technological breakthroughs, manufacturing developments, economies of scale and mass production, and market creation. Market barriers and public policy impacts on commercialization are discussed.
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OVERVIEW AND EVALUATION OF FUEL ETHANOL FROM CELLULOSIC BIOMASS: Technology, Economics, the Environment, and Policy
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 403–465More Less▪ AbstractEthanol is a high performance fuel in internal combustion engines. It is a liquid, which is advantageous in terms of storage, delivery, and infrastructural compatability. Ethanol burns relatively cleanly, especially as the amount of gasoline with which it is blended decreases. Evaporative and toxicity-weighted air toxics emissions are consistently lower for ethanol than for gasoline. It is likely that vehicles can be configured so that exhaust emissions of priority pollutants are very low for ethanol-burning engines, although the same can probably be said for most other fuels under consideration. Recent work suggests that ethanol may be more compatible with fuel cell—powered vehicles than has generally been assumed. Research and development—driven advances have clear potential to lower the price of cellulosic ethanol to a level competitive with bulk fuels. Process areas with particular potential for large cost reductions include biological processing (with consolidated bioprocessing particularly notable in this context), pretreatment, and incorporation of an advanced power cycle for cogeneration of electricity from process residues. The cellulosic ethanol fuel cycle has a high thermodynamic efficiency (useful energy/high heating value = from 50% to over 65% on a first law basis, depending on the configuration), and a decidedly positive net energy balance (ratio of useful energy output to energy input). Cellulosic ethanol is one of the most promising technogical options available to reduce transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions. It may well be possible to develop biomass-based energy on a very large scale in the United States with acceptable and in some cases positive environmental impacts. To do so will however require responsible management and increased understanding of relevant technological and natural systems. The potential biomass resource is large, but so is demand for transportation fuels as well as other uses. The following hypotheses are offered as tentative hypotheses pertaining to biomass supply and demand in the United States: There will probably not be enough suitable land available to meet transportation demand if total vehicle miles traveled increase relative to current levels, and vehicle efficiency and animal protein utilization are unchanged. There probably is enough suitable land to meet transportation demand, even given some increase in vehicle miles traveled, given large but probably possible increases in vehicle efficiency, or large but probably possible decreases in reliance on animal protein, or a combination of less aggressive changes in both of these factors. The policy debate concerning fuel ethanol has tended to ignore cellulosic ethanol. It is suggested that an appropriate policy objective is to foster a transition to cellulosic feedstocks at a pace such that opportunities for ethanol producers and the farmers that supply them are expanded rather than contracted.
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SECURITY OF FISSILE MATERIALS IN RUSSIA
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 467–496More Less▪ AbstractThe problem of security of huge stocks of weapons-usable highly enriched uranium and plutonium in Russia against theft or diversion remains a serious nonproliferation concern. During the Cold War, the security of Soviet nuclear materials was based on centralization and discipline, protection by the military, and intrusive political oversight of the people. The recent fundamental societal changes have rendered these arrangements inadequate, and the security of nuclear materials has decreased. Safeguarding nuclear materials in Russia is particularly difficult because of their very large inventories and the size and complexity of the nation's nuclear infrastructure. Russia needs a reliable and more objective technology-based system of nuclear safeguards designed to control nuclear materials. The Russian government and the international community are working towards this goal.
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RURAL ENERGY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A Challenge for Economic Development1
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 497–530More Less▪ AbstractThe energy problems of the developing world are both serious and widespread. Lack of access to sufficient and sustainable supplies of energy affects as much as 90% of the population of many developing countries. Some 2 billion people are without electricity; a similar number remain dependent on fuels such as animal dung, crop residues, wood, and charcoal to cook their daily meals. Without efficient, clean energy, people are undermined in their efforts to engage effectively in productive activities or to improve their quality of life. Developing countries are facing two crucial—and related—problems in the energy sector. The first is the widespread inefficient production and use of traditional energy sources, such as fuelwood and agricultural residues, which pose economic, environmental, and health threats. The second is the highly uneven distribution and use of modern energy sources, such as electricity, petroleum products, and liquefied or compressed natural gas, which pose important issues of economics, equity, and quality of life. To address these problems, this paper evaluates some successful programs and recommends that governments support market-oriented approaches that make the energy market equally accessible and attractive to local investors, communities, and consumers. Such approaches ideally improve access to energy for rural and poor people by revising energy pricing and by making the first costs of the transition to modern and more sustainable uses of energy more affordable.
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Previous Volumes
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Volume 49 (2024)
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Volume 48 (2023)
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Volume 47 (2022)
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Volume 46 (2021)
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Volume 45 (2020)
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Volume 44 (2019)
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Volume 43 (2018)
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Volume 42 (2017)
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Volume 41 (2016)
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Volume 40 (2015)
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Volume 39 (2014)
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Volume 38 (2013)
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Volume 37 (2012)
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Volume 36 (2011)
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Volume 35 (2010)
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Volume 34 (2009)
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Volume 33 (2008)
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Volume 32 (2007)
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Volume 31 (2006)
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Volume 30 (2005)
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Volume 29 (2004)
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Volume 28 (2003)
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Volume 27 (2002)
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Volume 26 (2001)
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Volume 25 (2000)
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Volume 24 (1999)
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Volume 23 (1998)
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Volume 22 (1997)
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Volume 21 (1996)
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Volume 20 (1995)
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Volume 19 (1994)
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Volume 18 (1993)
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Volume 17 (1992)
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Volume 16 (1991)
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Volume 15 (1990)
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Volume 14 (1989)
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Volume 13 (1988)
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Volume 12 (1987)
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Volume 11 (1986)
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Volume 10 (1985)
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Volume 9 (1984)
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Volume 8 (1983)
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Volume 7 (1982)
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Volume 6 (1981)
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Volume 5 (1980)
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Volume 4 (1979)
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Volume 3 (1978)
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Volume 2 (1977)
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Volume 1 (1976)
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Volume 0 (1932)